An LED television is an expensive purchase and you won’t want to be out of pocket if it goes wrong.
The good news is that in the UK you have statutory rights as a consumer that give you six years (five in Scotland) from the date of purchase to make a claim. These rights are provided by the Sale of Goods Act 1979, which is often referred to as SoGA.
The Sale of Good Act states that items must be of satisfactory quality.
This covers life expectancy taking into account the type of product purchased and the price paid. It is therefore reasonable to expect an expensive item such as an LED TV to last 5 – 8 years when used under normal operating conditions.
Remedies
The remedies available to you depend upon how long you have had your television.
Just got your LED TV
If you have just got your television and it is faulty you can reject it and demand a full refund or a replacement.
Less than six months from purchase
If your faulty LED television is less than six months old the television is assumed to have been faulty when it was delivered and it is for the retailer to prove otherwise.
More than six months from purchase
When you have LED TV is more than six months old, the burden of proof lies with you the consumer. You may need to prove that it was faulty when delivered and has an inherent fault.
Less than a year old
In practice most televisions come with a 1 year manufacturer’s warranty and any problems you have will be covered by this. The terms of the warranty can include anything and you may need to pay for shipping costs to the repair centre. When making a claim under the Sale of Goods Act the retailer is liable for the postage costs and other out-of-pocket expenses.
More than a year old
It is when the warranty has expired that consumers have problems with retailers who tend to fob people off and suggest contacting the manufacturer and paying for a repair. This is when you need to know what your rights are and how to assert them.
You need to be assertive and state that your television is not of satisfactory quality and that this is a requirement of the Sale of Goods Act 1979.
It is always a good idea to put things in writing so that there is an audit trail. These days e-mail is fine.
Dear Sir,
I purchased a Samsung LED TV from you on 01/01/07 for £1000 and it is not of satisfactory quality.
The problem is that I can’t get a picture when I turn on the television.
I would like you to repair or replace my television as my contract is with you and it is reasonable to expect an expensive LED TV to last longer than this. As you are aware, this is one of my statutory rights as defined in the Sale of Goods Act 1979.
Please arrange for my TV to be replaced or repaired within 14 days from receipt of this letter.
Yours faithfully,
John Smith
Additional Protection
If you paid with your credit card, even if this was just the deposit, the credit card company is equally liable and is effectively the retailer, under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act. This is especially useful if the retailer has gone out of business.
If you bought your television over online, by mail order or on the phone you are covered by the Distance Selling Regulations and can return the product in a re-saleable condition seven days after it was delivered. However, you must inform the retailer in writing.
Who Pays for Return Postage?
If you are making a claim under the SoGA the retailer will pay either directly or reimburse you.
If you are making a warranty claim this depends on the warranty terms and conditions.
If you are returning an unwanted TV under the Distance Selling Regulations then it depends what it says in the retailer’s terms. Usually you are required to pay the return shipping costs, but restocking fees are NOT allowed.
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Great Info thank you.
My 46 inch LED Tv cost £1200 and is only 2 years old, and has developed a serious screen fault. I was advised by the retailer that as i had not taken out an extended warranty at purchase that it was my bad luck and no liabilty lay with them.
Your web site has been most useful as it has allerted me to my statutory rights and I have sent a letter along the lines of your pro forma, I am awaiting a reply. In anticipation of a fight or their counterclaim that this might have arisen due to misuse can you provide any guidance that this was in fact a latent manufacturing defect? If you can help I have a photo that I can e mail.
Hi. Was just wondering if u have had any joy in getting ur tv fixed as my friend has the same problem. He has a 46” samaung led tv which is 13months old and now has a 6” wide stripe from the left hand side and is now really unwatchable and he was told same as u. He is now going through Samsung to try get this resolved. As i have just read it should be usable for 5years. Please can u send me an e-mail to let me know if u have managed to get ur problem resolved….many thanks….Pauline…
I bought a 50″ LG Plasma 18 months ago and its got a huge line down the screen, advised by retailer to contact LG who just arent interested in
replacing or repairing.
Hope you two got on better than me, being assertive didnt get me anywhere!!
I bought a Panasonic 42″ plasma TV from John Lewis in Jan 08. AT the time, their sales man convinced us that we should opt for the more expensive Panasonic model as it is “future proofed” – this cost £500 more. He also confirmed, when we questioned, that there is no catches in the JL 5 year guarantee, it is a full guarantee.
Less than 3 years later the TV would not turn on. After very bad customer service from JL regarding the repair including being told that we had to return the TV to the shop ourselves (anyone with a plasma TV knows how heavy these are), never once have they contacted us with any progress, we have had to make numerous phone calls to find out an up to date situation each time.
After repairing it once and then finding another fault before it was even returned to us, JL have now decided that it is not cost effective to repair and have offered us £500 towards a new TV. IN good faith, we paid £1100 for this TV on the basis that JL’s own staff advised this was the better TV to invest in and it was a top of the range plasma and we should expect it to last at least 5 years, particularly when JL are willing to provide a 5 year guarantee fro free.
it appears from searching on the Internet that we experienced a very common problem. I would like to know where my consumer rights stand here.
Bought a 40″ LCD from ebuyer.com went faulty ie dead before 12 month warranty had expired but after 6 months ofered me a refund less about £50!!! this was bought by the family for my farthers 80th birthday. I always thought a 12 month manufactures warrant meant 12 months or I am just stupid??????
I have a nikai led tv model no ntv2401LEDFHD but it is not working properly only power red LED is blinking . What`s the problem is can u please send any remedy for this as soon as possible.
Help!!!!
We purchased a samsung tv dec 08 £549.00. the screen has developed an issue, when we turn the tv on it has a distorted picture from the left hand side this usually clears after it has been on for 20mins or more…
Having looked on afew web pages I have noticed this seems to be a common problem does anyone have any helpful tips when contacting Samsung? We are unsure where we stand re stat rights
thanks